Steelers release first official depth chart of 2018

As per league rules, each NFL team must officially publish a depth chart before their first preseason game of the year and the Pittsburgh Steelers made their list official on Saturday with an update to the team’s website. While their are some obvious changes to the last one the team released ahead of their playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, there appears to be few significant changes except where a player from 2017 has not returned.

Morgan Burnett replaces Mike Mitchell at free safety on the depth chart and JuJu Smith-Schuster moves up the pecking order in place of Martavis Bryant, as does Tyler Matakevich for Ryan Shazier. The ranking of any new additions seems to be based on their veteran status in the league, with all of the rookies at the back of the pack, regardless of their draft position.

Simon Chester

In practical terms, fans should not really read too much into how low some players are listed at their respective position groups, however, it should be interesting to note how the depth chart changes from this initial offering in the coming weeks.

Simon Chester

The Steelers will play their first preseason game of the year against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday and its not expected that the order in which the players are currently listed will necessarily be the order in which they come off the bench. Ramon Foster will likely miss all of preseason with a knee injury and Le’Veon will clearly not be playing until he signs his franchise tag and reports to training camp.